Managing power between data center loads

Abstract

Techniques for managing power loads of a data center include electrically coupling a data center infrastructure power load and a data center IT power load in a power distribution system having a specified power capacity, the infrastructure power load including a plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with at least one of a data center cooling system, a data center lighting system, or a data center building management system, and the IT power load including a plurality of IT power loads associated with a plurality of rack-mounted computing devices; determining that a predicted amount of the IT power load is about equal to or greater than a threshold power value; throttling the infrastructure power load to reduce a portion of the power capacity used by the infrastructure power load; and based on throttling the infrastructure power load, increasing another portion of the power capacity available to the IT power load.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for managing power loads of a data center, comprising:
 electrically coupling a data center infrastructure power load and a data center information technology (IT) power load in a data center power distribution system having a specified power capacity, the infrastructure power load comprising a plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with at least one of a data center cooling system, a data center lighting system, or a data center building management system, and the IT power load comprising a plurality of IT power loads associated with a plurality of rack-mounted computing devices in the data center; 
 determining that a predicted amount of the IT power load is about equal to or greater than a threshold power value; 
 based on the determination, throttling the infrastructure power load to reduce a portion of the power capacity used by the infrastructure power load, wherein throttling the infrastructure power load comprises:
 determining an amount of power used by each of at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads; 
 ranking the determined amounts of power from highest to lowest; and 
 reducing a power consumption of one of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with the highest ranking; and 
 
 based on throttling the infrastructure power load, increasing another portion of the power capacity available to the IT power load. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein a sum of a peak of the infrastructure power load and a peak of the IT power load is greater than the specified power capacity. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein reducing a power consumption of one of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with the highest ranking comprises at least one of:
 reducing a power consumption of a chiller with a variable frequency drive; 
 reducing a power consumption of a chiller by current limiting; 
 turning off a chiller; or 
 reducing a power consumption of one or more lights of the data center. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 subsequent to reducing the power consumption of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with the highest ranking, monitoring a power draw of the infrastructure power load; and 
 based on the monitored power draw being above a particular power draw, reducing a power consumption of another of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with a next highest ranking. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein reducing a power consumption of another of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with a next highest ranking comprises at least one of:
 reducing a power consumption of a fan of a fan coil unit; or 
 reducing a power consumption of a pump. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein throttling the infrastructure power load comprises reducing the infrastructure power load by an amount substantially equal to or greater than an amount that the predicted amount of the IT power load exceeds the threshold power value. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that a predicted amount of the IT power load is about equal to or greater than a threshold power value comprises:
 collecting historical data associated with the plurality of IT power loads; and 
 determining the threshold power value based on the collected historical data. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the historical data comprises power usage data of the plurality of IT loads that is grouped in a plurality of time segments, the time segments comprising at least one of hours, days, weeks, or months. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that a predicted amount of the IT power load is about equal to or greater than a threshold power value comprises:
 monitoring ambient conditions external to the data center; and 
 determining the threshold power value based on the monitored ambient conditions. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 installing an additional plurality of rack-mounted computing devices in the data center based on the monitored ambient conditions. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that a predicted amount of the IT power load is about equal to or greater than a threshold power value comprises:
 monitoring a plurality of computing loads received at the data center for processing by the plurality of rack-mounted computing devices; 
 determining a required power usage to process the monitored plurality of computing loads; and 
 prior to processing the monitored plurality of computing loads, determining that the IT power load that includes the required power usage, at least in part, exceeds the threshold power value. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 subsequent to a specified time duration after throttling the infrastructure power load to reduce the portion of the power capacity used by the infrastructure power load, increasing the infrastructure power load. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 subsequent to increasing another portion of the power capacity available to the IT power load, monitoring an increased IT power load that is about equal to or greater than the threshold power value; 
 determining that the IT power load is reduced to below the threshold power value; and 
 increasing the infrastructure power load based on the reduced IT power load. 
 
     
     
       14. A data center power system, comprising:
 a power distribution assembly that comprises an input operable to electrically couple to a high voltage power source, the power distribution assembly comprising a specified power capacity; 
 a data center infrastructure power load that is electrically coupled to the power distribution assembly and comprises a plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with at least one of a data center cooling system, a data center lighting system, or a data center building management system; 
 a data center information technology (IT) power load that is electrically coupled to the power distribution assembly and the infrastructure power load, the IT power load comprising a plurality of IT power loads associated with a plurality of rack-mounted computing devices in the data center; and 
 a control system communicably coupled to the power distribution system, the control system operable to perform operations comprising:
 determining that a predicted amount of the IT power load is about equal to or greater than a threshold power value; 
 based on the determination, throttling the infrastructure power load to reduce a portion of the power capacity used by the infrastructure power load, wherein performing the operation of throttling the infrastructure power load comprises:
 determining an amount of power used by each of at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads; 
 ranking the determined amounts of power from highest to lowest; and 
 reducing a power consumption of one of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with the highest ranking; and 
 
 based on throttling the infrastructure power load, increasing another portion of the power capacity available to the IT power load. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The data center power system of  claim 14 , wherein the power distribution assembly comprises a plurality of power busses, each of the plurality of power busses electrically coupled to a portion of the plurality of infrastructure power loads and a portion of the plurality of IT power loads. 
     
     
       16. The data center power system of  claim 14 , wherein a sum of a peak of the infrastructure power load and a peak of the IT power load is greater than the specified power capacity. 
     
     
       17. The data center power system of  claim 14 , wherein performing the operation of reducing a power consumption of one of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with the highest ranking comprises performing at least one of:
 reducing a power consumption of a chiller with a variable frequency drive; 
 reducing a power consumption of a chiller by current limiting; 
 turning off a chiller; or 
 reducing a power consumption of one or more lights of the data center. 
 
     
     
       18. The data center power system of  claim 14 , wherein the control system is further operable to perform operations comprising:
 subsequent to reducing the power consumption of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with the highest ranking, monitoring a power draw of the infrastructure power load; and 
 based on the monitored power draw being above a particular power draw, reducing a power consumption of another of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with a next highest ranking. 
 
     
     
       19. The data center power system of  claim 18 , wherein performing the operation of reducing a power consumption of another of the at least some of the plurality of infrastructure power loads associated with a next highest ranking comprises performing at least one of:
 reducing a power consumption of a fan of a fan coil unit; or 
 reducing a power consumption of a pump. 
 
     
     
       20. The data center power system of  claim 14 , wherein performing the operation of throttling the infrastructure power load comprises reducing the infrastructure power load by an amount substantially equal to or greater than an amount that the predicted amount of the IT power load exceeds the threshold power value. 
     
     
       21. The data center power system of  claim 14 , wherein performing the operation of determining that a predicted amount of the IT power load is about equal to or greater than a threshold power value comprises:
 collecting historical data associated with the plurality of IT power loads; and 
 determining the threshold power value based on the collected historical data. 
 
     
     
       22. The data center power system of  claim 21 , wherein the historical data comprises power usage data of the plurality of IT loads that is grouped in a plurality of time segments, the time segments comprising at least one of hours, days, weeks, or months. 
     
     
       23. The data center power system of  claim 14 , wherein performing the operation of determining that a predicted amount of the IT power load is about equal to or greater than a threshold power value comprises:
 monitoring ambient conditions external to the data center; and 
 determining the threshold power value based on the monitored ambient conditions. 
 
     
     
       24. The data center power system of  claim 14 , wherein performing the operation of determining that a predicted amount of the IT power load is about equal to or greater than a threshold power value comprises:
 monitoring a plurality of computing loads received at the data center for processing by the plurality of rack-mounted computing devices; 
 determining a required power usage to process the monitored plurality of computing loads; and 
 prior to processing the monitored plurality of computing loads, determining that the IT power load that includes the required power usage, at least in part, exceeds the threshold power value.